An ongoing off-topic discussion in the kernel access thread raised a suggestion that a new thread should be made regarding emulating older consoles with 3D. I thought it was a good idea, and I'd like to see it discussed a bit more perhaps with input from a few more people.

Not very long ago in a thread not very far away...

spinal_cord and newcomer DaniPoo were duking it out over how SNES games could be emulated whilst manipulating the layers to make a 3D effect. This isn't the first time it's been brought up, we've actually seen a mock-up of how Yoshi's Island might look if it were transformed into 3D ― very cool, it turns out. So, the discussion went as follows:

spinal_cord: We can do it by adjusting the position of the layers to create a 3D effect.DaniPoo: No, we need to stretch the background layers.spinal_cord: blah blah blah no stretching.DaniPool: blah blah blah stretching.

It seems that they couldn't agree on that, but they did settle on the fact that each game would have to be individually configured to display 3D properly. I suggested this might require some community involvement, perhaps using a config file or scripting engine to decide what to do with the layers to create the 3D effect at certain points in the game.

At this point, though, I think we can all agree that it's possible. I can go one better than that, and show you this:

SNES 3D - Layers
NES 3D - Re-Optimizing the Games code to do that?
DS 3D - Same as Above just more Difficult
So on and so forth

The DS has some 3D games and some 2D games. For 3D graphics, you'd need to hack in a second camera. NES, I'm not sure about... IIRC it only has 2 layers, although some games were actually made to support the Famicom 3D System so those could be emulated without any hacking required.

The DS has some 3D games and some 2D games. For 3D graphics, you'd need to hack in a second camera. NES, I'm not sure about... IIRC it only has 2 layers, although some games were actually made to support the Famicom 3D System so those could be emulated without any hacking required.

Games made for the Famicom 3D System Were only Released in Japan which is where it is called the Famicom

Hahaha! Thank you man! But I actually agree with Spinal about "adjusting the position of the layers" Only that I suggest stretching in order to remove any problem with layers not filling up the screen correctly
Cool video btw! Do you know how it was done?
I have uploaded a zip with two 3ds compatible .MPO files. One from Spinal and one from me. There you can study the difference

Attached Files:

Meaning who the Hell wants to play a Japanese Game which you can't understand?

Japanese people, people who aren't Japanese that have taken the time to learn Japanese, people that want to play that one game that was released in America that switched to anaglyph and people who can hack the ROMs to translate them. Who else?

Japanese people, people who aren't Japanese that have taken the time to learn Japanese, people that want to play that one game that was released in America that switched to anaglyph and people who can hack the ROMs to translate them. Who else?

Hahaha! Thank you man! But I actually agree with Spinal about "adjusting the position of the layers" Only that I suggest stretching in order to remove any problem with layers not filling up the screen correctly
Cool video btw! Do you know how it was done?

By the looks of things, the layers look shifted (not stretched) because there is a small amount of what looks like empty space at the side on some of the games. Anyone interested can check out the source, it's a bit late here and my CPP-fu isn't all that great (even though I made that one app that nobody uses).

Anywho, converting old NES games to 3D may not be viable. Stereoscopic, perhaps, but it may take another card like the SC2 with it's extra chip to make them playable without each rom needing to be converted or having major slowdown. I could be wrong, but do we really need some NES games in 3D? Urban Champion says "Hi".

The real question is.... why bother? Not that I'm saying that some SNES may not look amazing with layered 3D effects, but if it has to be done via romhack for each game (which seems more logical then some emulator being coded to do it automatically), games could trickle out slower than the official virtual console, or......you get the community involved, and a few talented people plus a whole lot of "i hack games hurr hurr hurr" idiots dump everything, and you spend more time sifting through islands of crap looking for the good ones.

We already have that. It's called DS software.

As for suddenly turning DS games 3d..... What makes you think Nintendo isn't waiting a bit and going to rerelease various DS games "now in 3D"? .....like the Player's Choice games for the Wii with new shitty motion controls.

By the looks of things, the layers look shifted (not stretched) because there is a small amount of what looks like empty space at the side on some of the games. Anyone interested can check out the source, it's a bit late here and my CPP-fu isn't all that great (even though I made that one app that nobody uses).

As for suddenly turning DS games 3d..... What makes you think Nintendo isn't waiting a bit and going to rerelease various DS games "now in 3D"? .....like the Player's Choice games for the Wii with new shitty motion controls.

I Highly doubt Nintendo is going to re-release DS Titles in 3D on the 3DS
When the Nintendo 3DS is Already Backwards Compatible with the DS
That Basically means people would have to re-purchase all their ds title's which would make everyone rage

Japanese people, people who aren't Japanese that have taken the time to learn Japanese, people that want to play that one game that was released in America that switched to anaglyph and people who can hack the ROMs to translate them. Who else?

Don't bother dude, at least it shows that you're not self-centered. XD

I Highly doubt Nintendo is going to re-release DS Titles in 3D on the 3DS
When the Nintendo 3DS is Already Backwards Compatible with the DS
That Basically means people would have to re-purchase all their ds title's which would make everyone rage

Ahem. The first few versions of the Wii were compatible with Gamecube software. Didn't stop them. Slap the 3D label on them, put them at a bargain bin price, and they will sell. Add Streetpass hits, or even just re-release them with a 3DS box instead, and they'll sell. They have done this before.